


Home is where the Heart is

by Ilmare_Ilse



Category: Hawaii Five-0 - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-26
Updated: 2011-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-21 18:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/228392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilmare_Ilse/pseuds/Ilmare_Ilse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Danny's opinion, this week wouldn't even make the cut of the top ten worst weeks of his life, but it came pretty close.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In Danny's opinion, this week wouldn't even make the cut of the top ten worst weeks of his life. That privilege went to the week Rachel and he split up, the week Rachel and Gracie moved to Hawaii, the week Matt left to God knows where, and a few others highlights that he would rather not remember right now.

The problem was that this week he's had no more than an hour of sleep each night. This week they had to deal with the case of a man who murdered his own wife and kidnapped his own daughter, because said wife didn't want him anywhere near them. This week he had had to arrest said father. This week he had found the little girl stuffed into the trunk of a car, a car that had been parked under the sun for 6 hours. This week he had tried and failed to resuscitate that little girl. This week, right when he had hoped to spend some time with his own little princess and make sure nobody hurt her like that bastard had hurt his own child, Rachel had informed him that he wouldn't be seeing Grace this weekend, because they had plans with some friends of Stan. This week Rachel also informed him that he wouldn't be seeing Grace for three, maybe four weeks, because they were going on vacation. So, even though this week didn't quite qualify as one of the worst weeks of Danny's life, it came pretty close.

* * *

He was trying to fill out the mountain of paperwork from the case - He'd make sure that all of the paperwork was properly filed; the bastard was not getting out on some technicality if he could do something about it – but it was getting kind of difficult to do, especially since the words kept morphing together. He pinched the bride of his nose, trying to rub a headache away, but the letters on the page kept doing a happy dance in front of his eyes.

He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He must have dozed off, because next thing he knew, he was being startled awake by McGarrett's arrival. "Danny, come on, let's go home."

Danny jumped in his seat, blinking tiredly at Steve. "You go ahead, babe. I gotta finish this paperwork…"

Steve shook his head, coming to stand in front of Danny's desk. "Danny, we can finish that paperwork tomorrow. I think we've had enough for today…"

Danny massaged his forehead tiredly and glared at Steve. "Enough for today he says! I've had enough for a year! Hell! I've had enough for a lifetime! I tell you, McGarrett, I'd be a happy man if I never have to find a little girl's body shoved into a trunk ever again! You hear me? Ever! Again! That's why I'm not leaving this place until I've filled all the paperwork needed to send that son of a bitch to the darkest hellhole the good State of Hawaii can find for him! He won't get out just because I failed to fill some stupid form, you hear me?"

Steve lifted his hands in a placating gesture, for once trying to be the voice of reason. "Danny, we're all dead tired. Wouldn't it be better to come back to fill these forms with a clear head? Get the facts straight?"

Danny dropped his pen and leaned forward, grabbing his head with his hands. Damn, he hated it when Steve was right. He should go home and get some rest, come back well rested and with a clear head, but he didn't want to have to remember all of this tomorrow. He didn't want to see Lynn's little body or the tear tracks on her face. He wanted to be done with it and forget this week ever happened.

Unfortunately, Steve was right; he wasn't going to get anything done tonight, so he might as well give up the fight. "Alright, you win. Let's go."

* * *

As they neared the Camaro, Steve went to the driver's side without even asking Danny. Danny would have said something if he wasn't as tired as he was. Not that he would admit that to Steve if he asked.

Apparently he slept through the whole trip to McGarrett's place, because the next thing he knew he was parking the car and looking at him nervously. "Hey Danny, do you want to come in for a couple of beers?"

The prospect of going back to the matchbox he called his apartment was not very appealing, so he nodded. "Alright, lead the way, fearless leader."

* * *

They settled on the lanai, each with a longboard on their hands. They were really not in the mood for conversation, so they just sat there, looking at the ocean. Some time later, Danny was being gently awakened by Steve. "Alright Danno, off to bed with you." He said, trying to help him to get to his feet.

"Wha?" Was the most coherent thing Danny managed to say. He let himself be lead towards the living room, but when Steve started steering him towards the stairs instead of the front door, he stopped in his tracks. "Wait… What are you doing?"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "You're dead on your feet, Danny. You can crash in the guest room…"

Danny shook his head. "No… should go home…"

Steve chuckled. "You're having trouble stringing whole sentences together and you want to drive back to your place?"

Danny blinked tiredly. "Alright… Bed…"

He followed Steve towards the guest room. Steve disappeared for a moment and came back with a t-shirt and track pants for Danny. "Here you go, man. Unless you usually sleep with your tie?" He asked smirking.

Danny took the clothes and started changing into them, but took a minute to consider Steve's question. "No, no tie when I sleep…" He said, shaking his head.

Steve laughed. "Well that's good to know…"

After changing, Danny sat down on the bed, too tired to figure out what he was supposed to do next. Steve shook his head, chuckling. "Come on, Danno, get in the bed. I never thought I'd be tucking you in like Gracie."

Danny let himself be tucked in, but at hearing his daughter's name he shook his head sadly. "Nope, no Grace…"

Steve noticed the change on his friend. "What do you mean?"

Danny was half asleep already. "Won't be seeing her for about a month. She got more important stuff to do than see me…" And with a sad sigh he was out.

Steve patted his shoulder comfortingly, worried by his partner's words. "Sleep well, Danno."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Steve was sitting on the lanai. Even though it had been a tough case, even more so for Danny, Steve wasn't ready to go to bed yet, more used to too few hours of sleep over a long period of time. After cleaning up his kitchen, rearranging some stuff on his living room and a couple of beers, he was finally in the mood to seek his own bed. So, of course that he would be interrupted by a noise coming from the guestroom.

He listened through the door, hearing some pained whimpering. He decided to open the door quietly. If Danny was having a nightmare, no matter how awkward it could get, he would wake him. He didn't want his friend reliving this day if he could help it.

Once he opened the door he was surprised to notice from Danny's body language that he was definitely not asleep. He was curled up on his side, holding his head and emitting soft whimpers of pain.

In two steps Steve was crouching at Danny's side. "Danny? What's wrong?"

Danny was startled by Steve's appearance at his side, but he didn't bother to move, it would hurt too much. He settled for opening one eye. "H-hey Steve. S-sorry. It's just… Just a headache…" He whispered.

Steve matched his tone of voice. "Just a headache? This doesn't look like just a headache, Danny."

Danny took a shuddering breath. "They just get a bit bad sometimes…"

Steve shook his head at his partner's capacity of understatement, but decided not to comment on it. "Danny, what do you need? How can I help?"

Danny was rubbing his throbbing forehead with a shaking hand. "Hmm… Pa-pain killers? D'you have any?"

Steve flew in search of painkillers, and came back with a couple of pills and a glass of water. He helped Danny to sit up and take the pills and helped him back down gently.

He sat down on the bed next to Danny's head and started to comb his fingers gently through Danny's hair, hoping to help him relax enough to go back to sleep. It didn't quite have the desired effect though, since he saw Danny move his hand from his forehead to cover his eyes, and a soft sob escape his friend's mouth.

If there was one thing Steve McGarrett never expected to see it was his partner in tears. He had been trained to deal with terrorists, suicide bombers and many other dangerous situations, but he had no clue how to deal with his miserable and overwrought partner. He started patting Danny's shoulder in a, hopefully, comforting way. "Hey, Danny… It's alright. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

Danny didn't lift his hand from his eyes, his shoulders shaking. "Shit, sorry… Just, I hate this… Hate my life…"

Steve sat with Danny, awkwardly patting his shoulder and stroking his head. "Shh, it's alright, man… It'll be alright…"

Danny kept sobbing softly into the pillow. "Just wanna go home…"

Steve continued trying to comfort Danny. "Do you want me to drive you to your place?"

Danny didn't look up. "No. Jersey… J-just wish I could go back home… I hate this shit…Just wanna go home…"

Steve continued trying to comfort his friend, wishing there was something else he could do to help.

Finally, the painkillers kicked in and Danny fell asleep. After that, Steve brought an armchair into the room, so he could keep an eye on his friend. He'd make sure nothing else perturbed his sleep tonight.

* * *

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Danny really didn't want to wake up. He was lying on a soft bed, with a wonderfully fluffy pillow under his head. He was curled up on his side covered with blankets that kept the cold away, but were not too hot either. He was sure this was the most comfortable sleep he had had in a long time, so it was no wonder that neither the light streaming through the windows nor the sounds coming from somewhere around the house managed to wake him up.

True to his nature, the smell of eggs and bacon did the trick. With a groan and a yawn he opened his eyes, stretching. He looked around the room, wondering how had he ended in McGarrett's guest room. "Oh, shit…" he sighed, the memories coming back to him. _Way to go Danny,_ he thought _. Breaking down in front of a damn Navy SEAL, see how you manage to get his respect back…_

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, checking his watch. "Oh, shit!" he muttered, jumping off the bed and quickly putting on his shirt and pants. He bolted down the stairs and barely managed to avoid a collision with Steve. "Wow, Danno, where's the fire?"

Danny looked around, wondering why Steve looked so calm when they were still here at 12.30 in the afternoon. "Where's the fire? Are you really asking me where the fire is? In case your super ninja senses are failing you and all of your clocks failed at the same time, it's way past noon, and we have work to do! More importantly, we have _paperwork_ to do! Paperwork that will ensure that the son of a bitch we arrested yesterday will stay locked up long enough to face trial and hopefully rot in the shittiest jail the good people of Hawaii can manage to produce!" He moved around Steve's living room looking for something. "Where the hell did you leave my car keys?"

Steve looked confused. "Danny, it's Saturday!"

Danny glared at him. "I know what day it is, I have to go to the office…" He started moving things around the living room, looking for his keys.

Steve stood in front of Danny, trying to stop him. "Danny, stop-"

"What do you mean stop! I want my fucking car keys!" Danny stepped to the side to avoid Steve.

Steve moved again to block his path. "But Danny, Chin-"

Danny lifted his hands and pushed Steve away. "WHAT PART OF I WANT MY FUCKING KEYS DID YOU NOT GET, HUH?" He bellowed.

Steve swept Danny's hands away and pushed him back against the wall, taking his shoulders and shaking him for emphasis, careful not to hit his head against the wall. "THE PART WHERE YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR A DAMN MINUTE!" Steve had no trouble matching Danny's tone of voice.

Danny crossed his arms in front of his chest breathing heavily. If looks could kill, Steve's body would be cooling down on his living room floor right now. Steve took Danny's silence as a good sign. "What I was trying to tell you was that Chin called this morning, he said that he had taken care of all the paperwork, and that the D.A. was already setting things up to get a quick conviction. That's why I let you sleep late; you looked like you needed it last night. I also cooked some breakfast, but it must have gone cold by now." He let go of Danny's shoulders, awaiting his reaction.

Danny hanged his head, taking a deep breath. He looked at the plates over the kitchen counter, remembering the smell of eggs and bacon that had woken him. "You cooked breakfast…"

Steve shrugged, looking self-conscious. "I didn't see you eat anything yesterday; I figured you'd be hungry…"

Danny scrubbed his hand down his face, nodding. "Yeah, I'm hungry…" Before he started moving towards the food, he grabbed Steve's arm, to catch his attention. "Listen, man. Sorry. About last night, about this morning… Just… I'm sorry man…"

Steve shook his head, patting Danny's back and directing him towards the kitchen. "There's nothing to apologize for, brah. I've got your back, ok?"

Danny nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks man."

* * *

They ate their late breakfast quietly, maybe too quietly for Steve's taste. Eventually he tackled the main reason for his friend's mood. "Danny, what happened with Grace?"

Danny looked up surprised, but looked anywhere but to Steve's eyes when he answered. "What happened? Nothing happened… She's at home with her mom…" He said, shrugging.

Steve shook his head. "Danny, yesterday you said that you wouldn't be seeing Grace for weeks. What was that about?"

Danny took a deep breath, trying to look unconcerned. "She's going on vacation next Thursday."

Steve lifted his eyebrows. "On vacation? For how long? Where are they going?"

Danny glared at him. "Do I look like their travel agent to you? They're going to some sort of tropical paradise for three or four weeks. Apparently they don't have enough beach around here." He said, rolling his eyes.

"What about this weekend?"Steve asked.

"What about it?" Asked Danny, waving his hands around.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Why aren't you spending this weekend with Grace?"

Danny looked around the room, scratching his head. "Why aren't I spending the weekend with Grace? Well, you see, Grace's mother and her husband are invited to some kind of party or something like that, and they want to show off my beautiful daughter to all of these rich people, so I'm not seeing her this weekend either." He took a deep breath, massaging his forehead.

Steve looked concerned. "Danny, is your head hurting again?"

Danny sighed, looking at the ceiling. "No Steve, my head does not hurt, I don't have a terrible decease, and while I'm thankful for your concern, I can assure you that my head is fine. I just miss my little girl, and while I'm trying to get used to the idea that I won't be seeing her for a long time it still gets me in an awful mood." He scratched his head nervously, and if Steve saw him blinking repeatedly, he didn't mention anything. Danny stood up. "In fact, I think I'd better go…"

Steve stood as well, trying to convince Danny to stay for a while. "Danny, I'm not doing anything today, why don't we sit outside with some beers…"

Danny shook his head, finally finding his keys. "No, thanks man. I'll be fine… See you on Monday…"

"Wait!" Steve said, moving to block the door. "I'm throwing some steaks to the fire tonight, would you like to come over?"

That got a small grin from Danny. "Steven, are you asking me on a date?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not asking you on a date! I thought you'd like to hang out here… unless you have something better to do. I like my dates taller anyway…" He said with a smirk.

Danny glared good-naturedly. "Sure, kick the short guy while he's down." He pushed Steve out of the way. "Alright, I'll come over tonight, but you'll better have lots of beer, or I'm outta here, got it?"

Steve let himself be moved away from the door, grinning. "Got it!"

He waited for Danny's Camaro to disappear down the road to grab his own keys and get in his truck. He had some important business to attend.

* * *

Rachel Edwards was expecting to see a lot of people today; what with all the people she would meet at Stan's Party/Business meeting. Someone she did not expect to see today, specially knocking at her door, was Lt. Commander Steven McGarrett.

She opened the door, hoping that he was not bearing bad news about her ex husband. "Commander, is everything alright?"

McGarrett was fuming. "No, everything is not alright! How dare you to not let Danny see his daughter this weekend if you're taking her away for a month!"

* * *

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Steve always assumed that any woman willing to put up with his partner for a long period of time would have to be made of strong stuff. The transformation from the woman he met the day they borrowed her room to set up surveillance on her neighbors, to the woman in front of him right now was not short of amazing. "Did Daniel say that I was keeping his daughter from him?" The ice on her voice would have frozen the Sahara.

This was certainly not the reaction Steve was expecting. "He… He said you were going on vacation next week, that you'd be gone for a month, and that this weekend Gracie was going to a party with you and Stan…"

Rachel crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Did he say that he hung up on me before I could explain to him that we wanted to take Grace to the party tonight but that he could pick her up on Monday and he could have her until Thursday? Or that he didn't allow me to explain that we were traveling with Stanley but we would come back in two weeks, so we wouldn't disturb his weekend with Grace again? Did he happen to mention that he was completely rude and didn't sound very interested on spending time with his daughter, and the fact that he still has not returned a number of calls and messages I've left for him?"

Steve looked confused by this information. "But… there was nothing he wanted more than to see Grace…" He said, shaking his head.

Rachel studied him for a moment. "Something bad happened this week, didn't it?"

Steve sighed, thinking how to answer. Finally he settled for the truth. "Yeah, something bad happened."

Rachel moved aside to invite him in. "I was just having a cup of tea, would you like to join me?"

Steve nodded, moving into the house.

Holding a flimsy looking tea cup, Steve told Rachel a glossed up version of the highlights of their latest case, and how bad Danny had taken it. Some would say that he was breaking his friend's confidence by sharing this information with Danny's Ex, but he knew that in spite of all of their disagreements, deep down, she cared about his partner.

Rachel considered the information for a moment. He looked at Steve seriously. "How bad is he?"

Steve shook his head. "I have no idea how bad he could get, but I'd say it was bad enough…"

Rachel took a deep breath. "Back in Newark, the worst cases had him working non stop, he wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. He would get by on coffee and adrenaline, and when he crashed…" Rachel stopped, not sure if she should share this information with the man in front of her.

Steve prompted her to keep talking. "I'm only trying to help him…What happened then?"

Rachel shook her head. "He would sleep for a whole day, even more than that. Afterwards, he would take off. Sometimes I think he just needed time to brood by himself, he would come back a couple of days later, looking exhausted, but somehow lighter. Other times I would get a call from a bar across town, or Matt would drag him home in the middle of the night, he would attempt to drown it all in bourbon…" She took a deep breath, looking away. "At that time, Matt was nearby, Danny could be a stubborn ass, but he always knew to call his brother when he was like this… But now…" She hesitated, shaking her head. "Right now he probably feels like he has no one to go to…"

Steve shook his head. "He has his team! He has me! I'm pretty sure he'd have you, if he asked… He knows that… Hell, he _should_ know that…"

Rachel leaned forward, taking his hand. "Maybe it's time you informed him of that?"

Steve patted her hand. "Maybe it's time _we_ informed him of that… If you could make the time?"

* * *

Later that evening, everything was going according to plan at Steve's place. The food was on the fire and the guest had arrived. Every guest but the most important one. He looked at his watch for the nth time and was startled by the hand squeezing his shoulder. "Why don't you go there and check what's keeping our Haole?" Said Chin, smiling.

Steve moved to the door, grabbing his keys on the way. "Watch the fort for me?"

Chin nodded. "You got it, brah."

* * *

Steve parked next to Danny's Camaro outside of his small apartment. He knocked softly on the door, getting no response. Looking through the window, he saw that it was dark inside, except for the glow of the TV. Finally, he tried opening the door and was surprised to find it unlocked.

He stepped inside, noticing the TV showing some baseball game, two beer bottles on the coffee table and Danny sitting on the pull out couch, staring sightlessly into a shoebox on the table filled with what looked like family pictures. The glow of the TV made him look as bad as he did the previous night; the dark shadows under his bloodshot eyes, and his whole posture spoke of a defeated man.

Steve took a seat next to Danny on the couch, noticing that both of the beers on the coffee table were untouched. He didn't speak, waiting for Danny to make the first move. After a few minutes, Danny started talking. "Back in Jersey, I got pretty bad after a tough case. I would find the shittiest bars in town and get shitfaced. Other times I disappeared for a couple of days, trying to get my head straightened out. Rachel hated it, I never called her if I needed a ride or someone to talk to, if I needed someone I would always call Matt. I didn't even have to ask him to come over, as soon as he heard my voice he'd know that it was bad, and he would come over…" He took a deep breath, taking out a picture of him and his little brother. "As soon as I got home I took out my phone to call Matt, that was until I remembered that-" He cut himself off. Taking deep breaths, he leaned back on the couch, dropping the pictures and closing his eyes. "Did I mention that I fucking hate Hawaii?" He said in a choked whisper.

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder, squeezing softly. "You may have said something once or twice."

He gave Danny a couple of minutes to get himself together, not taking his hand from Danny's shoulder, after a while, he squeezed to catch his friend's attention. "Hey Danno, I know that I'm no replacement for a brother, but if you ever feel like calling me, I'd come… no matter the time… You know that, right?"

Danny turned his head to look at Steve. "I know that, man." He said, patting Steve's hand awkwardly. "And don't you think I don't appreciate it, but you're no good when it comes to let me wallow in misery…" He said, with a small smile on his face.

Steve shrugged. "Well, I've never seen much use in wallowing… But if you ever felt like wallowing, I wouldn't try to stop you though…"

Danny chuckled. "Thank you, I'll take that into consideration the next time I feel like wallowing…"

They were silent for a few minutes and suddenly, Steve got up. "Alright, why don't we carry on with our original plan?"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Original plan?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, you. Coming over to my place. Where we would have some beers and drop some steaks on the fire."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that some wallowing was already taking place by then… And anyways, whatever happened to you letting me wallow in peace?"

Steve shrugged. "I thought you were done?"

Danny shook his head sadly. "You see? That's the problem right there… You _thought_ …"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Haha… very funny. So, are you coming or not?"

Danny took a deep breath, looking resigned with his fate. "You're not leaving me be until I come with you, aren't you?"

Steve pulled his most innocent looking face. "I've no idea what you're talking about, man…"

Danny shook his head. "Alright, let's go already. Annoying Rambo super seal…" he muttered under his breath.

Steve led him to his truck, hoping that things went according to plan once they got to his place.

* * *

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

Once they got to Steve's place, he stopped the truck and got out, starting towards his door. He looked to the side, expecting to see Danny, but he wasn't there.

Looking around, he noticed that Danny had not gotten out of the truck. On closer inspection, he could see that Danny was still sitting in the truck, his arms crossed in front of his chest and he was not looking at Steve.

Steve opened the door on Danny's side, wondering what had ticked off his friend. "What's the matter, were you expecting me to open the door for you, My Lady?"

Danny glared at him. "No Steven, when you dragged me all the way here against my will, you never said anything about having Chin and Kono over!"

Steve looked towards Kono's car and Chin's bike parked next to the truck and then back to Danny. "What's wrong with them coming over?"

Danny shook his head, still not looking at Steve. "Nothing, maybe I should just go home." He finished with a small sigh.

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder, trying to get him to look at him. "Go home?"

Danny brushed his hand down his face, finally looking at Steve. "Yes! Go home!" He pointed a finger in Steve's face. "I know you, and this is not just an unplanned visit." He kept speaking, while pointing at Steve's house. "You probably already have some kind of party-luau-thing all set up in your backyard, with Kono and Chin wearing the appropriate costumes! And all I was expecting of this night was a couple of beers and a dark corner to sulk in peace!" He drew another sigh, his hand moving to his forehead again. "Now I'll only spoil the entire fun hula dancing you had planned with my awful mood, which will make me feel even worse about life in general. So, yes, I think it would be better if I just went home." He said finally, moving his eyes away from Steve again.

Steve crossed his arms around his chest, studying his friend. "I have to admit you're good. It's not a coincidence that Chin and Kono are here. We were just hoping to unwind after a tough case."

Danny lifted his hands, waving them around. "You see? I'm not a detective for nothing!"

Steve nodded. "You're right. You're a very good detective. So, detective Williams, if I told you that nobody would mind if you went in, had a couple of beers and retired to a dark corner in peace, that it wouldn't spoil the whole mood, that neither Chin nor Kono are going to force you to participate in any merrymaking if you don't feel like it and that there will be no hula dancing, would you come in for a while?"

Danny finally looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "You promise there will be no forced merrymaking?"

Steve lifted his right hand and tried to look convincing. "I promise."

Danny rolled his eyes, finally getting out of the truck. "For your information, the prospect of seeing Kono in one of those coconut outfits would have worked in your favor, but the lack of them doesn't mean that I won't be staying for a while."

Steve chuckled, slinging an arm around Danny's shoulders and leading him inside.

* * *

They entered Steve's house, finding Chin watching the grill and Kono taking some beers out of the fridge. "What took you so long, guys?" She said, handing a beer for each of them.

Steve shrugged. "We got caught up in something."

Kono shook her head, smiling. "Alright, keep your secrets." She moved towards the lanai. "Go on outside, the food should be ready soon!"

Steve moved towards the grill, to greet Chin and check how the food was going. Danny stuck to his original purpose for the evening and looking at Steve nodded towards the chairs farther down the little private beach. "I'll be there if you need me."

Steve and Chin nodded. "We'll yell when the food is ready." Said Steve.

* * *

Danny sat on a chair overlooking the beach, slowly drinking his beer. He didn't want to close his eyes, because he kept seeing Gracie's face on the little girl they found locked inside that trunk. He knew he was having trouble dealing with this case, and that bottling it all up inside wouldn't help, but apart from Matt, he was not used to sharing his burden with anyone else.

He never used to share his worries with Rachel, which, he figured must have helped on how their marriage turned out. He never discussed it with his parents either, since they were worried enough already with his choice of career. His coworkers usually had their own demons to deal with, and how they dealt with them was each man's own business. Matt always managed to break his defenses out of pure Williams' stubbornness, and only because he managed to get his big brother drunk enough to drop his tough guy façade.

It stood to reason that once he moved to Hawaii, and once Matt had left the picture, he would deal (or not deal) with his demons on his own; finding a dark joint where he could get drunk, trying to distance himself from Grace until he had managed to regain control, and generally shutting everyone out.

He didn't want to be rude with his team. He had noticed long ago that Chin had taken as his own mission to help Kono keep her sanity intact when the cases got too bad, and Kono in turn was all the family Chin had left. On the other hand, Steve probably had some top secret SEAL technique to get over the tough cases. None of them needed him to spoil their mood.

He just kept staring at the sea, drinking his beer and brooding quietly.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a female hand holding a plate with a steak on it appeared in front of his eyes. Danny didn't take the plate, still looking at the ocean. "Thank you Kono, but I'm not really hungry tonight."

The hand deposited the plate on Danny's chest, and he had to hold it to keep it from toppling to the side. "Daniel, you know that it isn't every day that I am willing to bring you food! You should take advantage of the occasion." The voice that answered him made him whirl around on his chair.

Rachel was standing next to his chair with her arms crossed across her chest.

Danny gaped at her for a few seconds before he finally managed to come up with something to say. "Rachel? Wha – How – What? What are you doing here?" He stood up, leaving the plate on his chair.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Well, I thought it would be obvious. Steven invited me."

"He invited you…" Said Danny, sounding unconvinced. Looking towards the house, he found his team conveniently engaged in conversation. He looked back to Rachel, glaring. "Whatever happened to that important business dinner to which you had to drag Gracie to, huh?"

Rachel shrugged. "There was a change of plans."

Danny lifted his hands in question. "Change of plans? What change of plans? More to the point, where is Gracie, and what the hell are you doing here?"

Rachel stiffened. "I am here, because someone came to me to tell me that you were having a hard time…"

She was interrupted by Danny. "And what the fuck do you care if I'm having a hard time, huh?"

She raised her voice to match Danny's angry tone. "What do I care? Of course I care! You're the father of my daughter! We were married for 6 years! You are-were the best friend I had!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself, and was glad when Danny didn't interrupt her. "I know I'm the reason you had to come to Hawaii… I know it's my fault that you had to leave everything behind and come over here, to a place you hate, in order to be with Grace. I know that other than Grace, it feels like you are all alone here, and It's my fault, and I'm sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am for your unhappiness, but you are determined to remain alone. You never let me help you when we were married, and I should have insisted, I should have tried harder, and I know it's part of the reason why we didn't work out, but now I can't let you keep doing this…"

"And what is it that I'm supposedly doing?" Asked Danny in an angry growl.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "You're doing what you always do. You're always available to help everyone, you are always there to provide comfort, advice or protection to anyone that needs it, but when you are the one in need of comfort, you pull away! You don't let your friends and family help you when you are in need, you'd rather suffer alone than sharing your burden with them… I bet that the only reason Matt ever got you to talk was because he kept pushing you until you finally gave up pretending, and I should have done the same thing back then. Well, I'm doing it now. I'm not going to let you keep doing this. You have a team, they consider you family! And they are going through the same things that you are, and they are willing to listen and help, and… And you have me… I may not show it very well sometimes, but I care about you, and I'll always be there if you need me… I'm not going to let you shut us out again Danny…" She said, her voice breaking near the end of her tirade.

Danny sank down to the chair, holding his head with his hands. He took a couple of deep breaths and lifted tear filled eyes towards Rachel. "You're still a good friend, Rach."

She moved quickly to his side to gather him in her arms.

* * *

They talked quietly for about half an hour. Danny told her a little about the case, not going into too much detail, but he promised to let his team help. They talked about getting used to live in Hawaii and about Matt. When Danny yawned for the 10th time, they both decided it was time to go back to the house.

Chin, Kono and Steve were still standing near the grill, having some beers when Danny and Rachel came back. If they noticed their red rimmed eyes they didn't mention it.

Danny looked at them self-consciously. "Listen, guys. I'm sorry if I've been an ass lately."

Kono moved to hug him. "I'll settle for you not being a _stubborn_ ass…" She said, while Chin patted him on the back.

Danny turned to Steve, raising an eyebrow. "McGarrett. You staged a fucking intervention on me."

Steve looked surprised. "I did? Well, that's what family is for, isn't it?" He said, with a smirk.

Danny smiled tiredly. "Yeah… it is…" He shook Steve's hand.

"Listen guys, I'm going to head home, it's been a long week…" He said, stifling another yawn, but was stopped by Rachel's hand on his arm.

"Danny, someone else wanted to see you tonight, but you took far too long to get here." She said, steering him towards the guest room. Once they opened the door, he saw a familiar figure curled up between the blankets.

"Gracie." Breathed Danny.

He moved silently towards her, leaning forwards to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Just as he was about to pull away, Grace turned, and with a softly muttered "Danno" she took hold of her father's arm, pulling him to lie next to her. Danny tried to wiggle to get out of the bed, but she wouldn't have any of it.

Steve was looking from the doorway. "You know you can crash in here whenever you want, Danno."

Danny looked to Rachel for confirmation, noticing her smile. "Stay with her, you know she loves to wake up with you near… I should get going, would you mind having her until Thursday?" She said.

Danny smiled too. "I'd love to… You are going on that vacation…" He said, looking sadly at his little girl.

Rachel caught his attention again. "Danny, we'll be back from our trip on time for your next weekend with Grace, alright?"

Danny blinked confusedly. "You will?"

Rachel sighed. "Of course! I never intended to keep her away from you for too long…"

Danny took a deep, relieved breath. "Thank you Rach…"

Rachel smiled. "Get some rest… we'll talk in the morning… Goodnight…"

As Rachel moved away, Danny turned to Steve. "Thank you too, man… for everything…"

Steve shrugged. "It's nothing you wouldn't have done for us, _Danno_ … Get some sleep, man. You look like death warmed over."

Danny chuckled, toeing off his shoes and finally lying down next to his little girl. "Goodnight…"

He was surprised to realize that even though he woke up that morning feeling like he couldn't be farther away from home, now, just a few hours later, he found himself feeling like home, with the best family and friends he could have ever hoped for. With a contented sigh he closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.

* * *

The End

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you reached this point, thank you so much for reading!
> 
> This story was supposed to be a short two chapter thing about the team getting together to support Danny in a bad time, but got a bit longer than initially planned. I hope you enjoyed the story, or at least were not too nauseated by the sappy ending!


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